160 MILLION horsepower...

[Micrornd]

Lucky you!, amazingly, despite the enormous complexity of these machines all of the Saturn V launches went off without a hitch save #13 which did have an engine shutdown early but was easily remedied by burning the remaining 4 a little longer but as we all know the real trouble for #13 was just hours away..

Yeah, unfortunately I also remember the local ABC affiliate Ch. 9 WOFL (now WFTV) interrupting the national news with a live broadcast at the pad of Apollo 1.

Saddest thing was, in the first 15 minutes of the live local broadcast they explained what happened (in detail).
Since the local reporters knew everyone at the Cape for years, everyone, including the astronaut corp talked to them openly.

After the initial first 30min. or so of the live broadcast, the communications cap/blackout went on and it was several weeks before those same details made their way back to national broadcasts again as "discoveries" in the investigation that followed.
No one spoke openly of any details while the investigation was underway.

 

[Micrornd]

It's amazing. It's been over 45 years since the launch of Apollo 11, and it still sends shivers up and down my spine to watch it. I was 7 years old in 1969, and my mother made sure that my siblings and I watched this bit of history unfold on TV. It's still magical to watch, after all this time.

Growing up in central Florida, we saw almost every launch/attempt live on TV.
NASA scheduled most of their tests during the week and the local TV affiliates broadcast them live in B/W for ratings.
Anything that could fly or could blow up, brought in ratings, so damn the soaps and game shows.

I remember Mercury I and Alan Shepard going on the first suborbital flight.
As kids, we were scared, having seen all the Redstone and Atlas failures, as well as the escape rocket failures on live TV prior to that.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Back when the USA made things and invested in things with a future payoff. Sadly, it wasn't long before we began to sell off these capabilities. On the bright side we can look forward to watching video of space exploration from China.

I was a child when this happened and am now nearing old age. Then men that built and flew them are now passing away. How is it that we could do these things and then step back and say, let someone else do it...


Brian

 

[HeXen]

I never saw the Saturn V liftoff but did see the 2nd shuttle launch from an on-base position, about 4 miles away. The ground shaking under you feet and the enormous rumbling are something that cannot be really experienced via a YT vid or even an IMAX screen. Another Saturn V fact, " All told, a Saturn V churned out more power than 85 Hoover Dams or, if you prefer, enough energy to light up New York City for 75 minutes."....

Ok well hook up a few tactile transducers to your chair then.

 

[BUTCH1]

Ok well hook up a few tactile transducers to your chair then.

LOL, during the '70's the Universal Studios and Cerwin-Vega brought out a new feature called "Sensurround", it was designed to add intense rumble in certain movie scenes. I went to a theater that had installed the system and saw this huge box at the back of the rows, I walked close over to see what it was when the preview for "Midway" began (which also featured a Sensurround track), talk about shitting your pants I was about 2-3 feet away when it began to operate!. The feature didn't catch on (although it did work) because of the trend of theaters to go the Multi-plex" route and a movie featuring Sensurround would most certainly impinge on the experience in the adjoining theater.

 

[MongGrel]

Ok well hook up a few tactile transducers to your chair then.

Buttkicker BK-CT Concert Tactile Transducer Shaker for Bands



http://www.amazon.com/Buttkicker-BK-...rds=transducer


I do not have one but

 

[The Boston Dangler]

this might have been posted here before, but it's certainly relevant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlz5u1OBe_c

 

[BUTCH1]

this might have been posted here before, but it's certainly relevant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlz5u1OBe_c

No, it wasn't posted yet, very nice addition to the thread, thanks!.